For me, something changed when there was an actual little person who would be attached to the name....and a husband who had to love the name too. A lot of my more obscure favorites were crossed off because we didn't agree on them or somehow they didn't feel quite right. Our current frontrunner---DH's definite #1 favorite and one of my top picks too--is in the top ten and honestly, it's not bothering me. So many popular names right now are truly lovely classics. Probably the only place I'm even a little self-conscious about it is on nameberry because I know some people would judge it as a boring choice! I love the name, DH loves the name, it just feels like her name already.

Going on name threads on some of the more popular birth boards (babycenter, etc...) are also reassuring...out of 500+ posts, I was shocked that only one other person was using "my" name. Many many more kreativ spellings than anything from the top 10 which reenforced what we always say around here, that popular names today are not the popular Jennifers and Jessicas of the past when you look at the actual numbers. It feels silly to choose a name that was our third or fourth choice because we're afraid there might be another in her class or that our #1 is somehow a lesser choice. Besides, you never know how a class is going to break down....a few years ago I taught a class with two Amayas...bet their parents never saw that one coming.

For me it's a pretty big factor, because I was one of those people who had a letter behind her name. My name was number 6 in the country the year I was born, and there always seem to be 2-4 of us in the room at the same time. I've run into multiple people with my first and last name combo and one with my first, middle, and last name. Talk about frustrating.

On the other hand, naming is more diverse now. The year I was born, there were over 24,000 girls born with my name. The number 6 name this year... around 13,500. That's a big difference in actual human people running around with a name. One thing I would suggest is check the state data if you are in the US and see how many kids are born with your chosen name in your state.

Having said all of that, Sophie is my favorite girl's name. Will I use it if I have kids? Yeah, maybe. But if I do, my girl will be getting a very distinct middle name.

I chose a name for my 6.5 year old that was in the 200s for popularity the year she was born. Her name is Elena and here she has an Elyahna (prn Eliana) in her class now, but NONE of the girl's names in her class this year were top 10 the year they were born. Go figure. So, I wouldn't let it deter me. We don't even know any Emma's, for example, but I know more than one of each of these: Piper, Peyton, Riley and Annika. Also, people who are not currently naming babies don't realize which names are popular and won't think it's a boring choice. All of the Top 10 names right now are gorgeous and likely to be widely recognized as such.

It's a huge factor for me, because I'm not planning on having a child for another decade at least. So, for example, if I see Violet dipping under the top 100 line, I'm going to assume that in 10 year's time, it will be ridiculously popular. I'm likewise cautious about the 200-300's range because I don't want to hit on the next big name by the time that I'm ready. It's sad because I lose a lot of great names - 10 years ago, my favorite name was Violet. Go figure! On the bright side, I become more diligent in my name searching and more open to names. I didn't think I would ever like Sybil and now I love it (now, to convince my mother of it's virtues!).